The copper underwing, humped green fruitworm or pyramidal green fruitworm (''Amphipyra pyramidea'') is a moth of the family

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...

. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''.

Distribution

This species can be found across the Palaearctic region including Europe, North Africa, the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

, Iran, southern Siberia, northern India, Korea and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It is rather common over the southern half of Britain.

Description

This species has a wingspan of 47–54 mm, the female usually slightly larger than the male. The forewings are brown marked with paler

fascia A fascia (; plural fasciae or fascias; adjective fascial; from Latin: "band") is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches to, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs. ...

and a pale, dark-centred stigma. The hindwings are a rich bright copper colour (hence the common name of "copper underwing"). It is very similar to

Svensson's copper underwing Svensson's copper underwing (''Amphipyra berbera'') is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Charles E. Rungs in 1949. It is distributed throughout Europe including Russia east to the Urals. This species has a wings ...

(''Amphipyra berbera'') but identification is usually fairly straightforward by looking at some markings on the forewings, the detail of the labial palps and at the underside of the hindwings. This species has a pale area in the centre of the hindwings, contrasting with much darker marginal areas, while in ''A. berbera'' the whole underwing is more or less uniform in colour. See Townsend et al. The larva is green with white markings and a pointed hump at the rear end.

Differentiation of ''A. pyramidea'' from ''A. berbera''

File:Amphipyra pyramidea - differenciation from Amphipyra berbera 01.jpg, ''A. pyramidea'' - red arrow points out a difference File:Amphipyra pyramidea - differenciation from Amphipyra berbera 02.jpg, ''A. berbera'' - red arrows point out a difference File:Amphipyra pyramidea - berbera larvae.jpg, Caterpillars of ''A. pyramidea'' (top) and ''A. berbera''

Biology

It is a univoltine species. Hatching season is as early as June in some climates but they usually hatch July to October. Eggs are laid in deciduous trees. Larva can be found as early as April in some climates but usually emerge in May–June. ''A pyramidea'' flies at night from August to October and is attracted to light and strongly to sugar. It feeds on a variety of trees and

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s, including ash tree (''

Fraxinus ''Fraxinus'' (), common name, commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of Subtropics, subtropic ...

''), privet ('' Ligustrum''), honeysuckle ('' Lonicera''), apple ('' Malus''), oak ('' Quercus''), ''

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

'', rose, wild service tree ('' Sorbus'') and lilac ('' Syringa'').Mazzei, Paolo; Morel, Daniel & Panfili, Raniero
''Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa''
/ref> The species overwinters as an egg. # ''The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.''

Gallery

File: Amphipyra pyramidea larva.jpg, Larva File: Noctuidae - Amphipyra pyramidea.JPG, Moth File:Amphipyra pyramidea.jpg, Mounted specimen File: F Nemos OBA Amphipyra pyramidea.jpg, Illustration

References

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External links

''Butterflies & Moths of Switzerland''''Lepiforum e. V.''
Includes photo of genitalia.

{{Taxonbar, from=Q735875 Amphipyrinae Moths of North America Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths of Africa Moths described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus